QantasLink


QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 QantasLink provides 1,900 flights each week to 54 domestic locations.

History

QantasLink's origins as a single brand for Qantas' regional airline subsidiaries go back to October 1993, when Qantas acquired Australian Airlink Pty Ltd and its fleet from parent company National Jet Systems, which up to that point had been operating flights on major regional routes for Australian Airlines. The Australian Airlink name remained and the fleet was repainted in Qantas livery, and National Jet Systems was subsequently contracted by Qantas to operate Australian Airlink aircraft.
Prior to 2002, Qantas' various subsidiaries operated under their own names, eventually adopting the Australian Airlines, and later, Qantas liveries. In 2002 a common brand was created, encompassing AirLink, Sunstate Airlines, Eastern Australia Airlines, and Southern Australia Airlines; Southern Australia has since ceased operations.
For a short while, QantasLink took over some of Qantas' non-trunk routes, such as Sydney - Sunshine Coast, using Boeing 717s that were inherited after Qantas acquired Impulse Airlines. QantasLink ceased operating some of these routes after Qantas formed low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways, transferring the Boeing 717 aircraft and routes to the new airline. In 2005/06, eight of the 717s were returned to QantasLink following Jetstar's acquisition of Airbus A320 aircraft, to be operated in Western Australia, Northern Territory and far north Queensland by National Jet Systems.
On 31 July 2015, Network Aviation was rebranded to QantasLink. This was announced by Qantas with the unveiling of a Fokker 100 in QantasLink colours.
In January 2018, Network Aviation confirmed it would lease two Airbus A320s from Jetstar Airways for flights to and from Perth as part of the QantasLink brand.
On 20th May 2020, Qantas announced the purchase of Cobham Australia's National Jet Systems subsidiary, bringing both employees and the Boeing 717-200 fleet in-house.

Fleet

QantasLink flights are operated by the individual airlines that make up the group - Eastern Australia Airlines, Network Aviation and Sunstate Airlines; and also contracted carrier National Jet Systems. As of May 2019 the QantasLink fleet consists of the following aircraft:
All flights use QF IATA codes, and on 5 January 2009 both Eastern and Sunstate changed from their previous individual callsigns to the common Q-Link.

Expansion

QantasLink increased capacity by replacing many of its smaller Dash 8-100 and Q200 aircraft with Q400s. QantasLink pursued this deal despite landing gear problems with Q400 aircraft by some airlines. This problem also saw a grounding of the Q400s by QantasLink, though all were deemed safe and returned to service.
As part of its further expansion, QantasLink entered the South Australian market in December 2005, with flights from Adelaide to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island. Interstate flights were also introduced between Kangaroo Island and Melbourne. Due to low passenger loads, these services ceased operation at the end of June 2006, however QantasLink announced a resumption of Melbourne to Kangaroo Island from December 2017 alongside opening up Adelaide to Kangaroo Island flights. On 8 December 2009, QantasLink announced that it would re-enter the Adelaide to Port Lincoln market from February 2010, using Q400 aircraft flying 23 return services a week.
Since 2005, QantasLink 717 services in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Tasmania have been contracted to Cobham Aviation, using the QantasLink brand. The hubs for QantasLink under the Cobham contract are in Perth, Western Australia, Cairns, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Sydney, New South Wales, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory and Hobart, Tasmania.
Qantas replaced its daily Melbourne-Launceston mainline service with a three times daily QantasLink Dash 8 service from 1 August 2006. This has now been increased to a four times daily service, supplemented in peak service periods by QantasLink 717 services.
In May 2008, QantasLink announced that it would order nine 717s. Tamworth would be the first New South Wales regional airport to be serviced by the Q400, commencing in mid-August 2008.
On 29 March 2010 QantasLink and the Qantas Group announced that it would start the first international QantasLink route, from Cairns to Port Moresby, utilising Q400 aircraft already based in Cairns. The service commenced in July 2010. A QantasLink spokesperson stated that "the airline would not turn into a fully fledged international airline, but could operate international routes in the future".
On 18 December 2014, QantasLink announced that it would add Whyalla, South Australia, to its network, with double daily flights to commence on 13 April 2015. The route is serviced by the 50-seat Q300. In July 2015, Network Aviation was absorbed into the Qantas Link brand. In November 2014, QantasLink became the first airline to fly to the newly opened Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, establishing direct Q400 services to Sydney. In February 2016 as a result of strong demand, QantasLink increased weekly services by two flights to fifteen weekly returns.
Alliance Airlines delivered the first of three additional Fokker 100s in July 2016, with two more to be delivered by the end of the year.

Former fleet

QantasLink previously operated the following types:
;QantasLink destinations served by Eastern Australia Airlines:
;QantasLink destinations served by Sunstate Airlines:
;QantasLink destinations served by Cobham Aviation Services Australia :
;Notes
1. QantasLink flights operated by National Jet Systems use the call-sign "QJET", with the ICAO code QJE. All flights continue to operate under the IATA code QF.
2. QantasLink flights operated by Network Aviation do not use an ICAO code and utilise the aircraft registration as a callsign.